Sebhat Nega’s Inistitute launches a Magazine and the “diversity” of the staff, contributors may surprise you

Inspired by the American foreign policy journal, Foreign Affairs, the Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Institute (EFRSSI) launched a quarterly policy magazine on Thursday, January 19, 2017, at the National Museum. Sebhat Nega, director of the Institute, dedicated the maiden edition to Zeresenay Alemseged (PhD), a world renowned paleoanthropologist who discovered a 3.3 million year old fossil named after his daughter, Selam.

Zeresenay is one of the 17 contributors to the magazine named Discourse, up for sale for 150 Br. It reflects on his meeting with Barack Obama, former US President, during his visit to Addis Abeba, in August 2015. Edited by Dade Desta, a former journalist with the Voice of America (VOA), the 174-page maiden issue was launched in the presence of Worqneh Gebeyehu (PhD), the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Incorporating think-pieces from high profile personalities such as David Shinn (PhD), former US Ambassador to Ethiopia; Alex de Waal (PhD), the British foremost expert on the Horn of Africa; Mehari Tadesse (PhD), an expert on African issues; and Medhane Tadesse, a political analyst, the magazine aims to be a platform to debate African issues. Other notables include Getachew Reda, former minister of Government Communications Affairs Office, and Yosief Ghebrehiwet, the authoritative thinker on Ethiopia and Eritrea affairs.

“It’s my conviction that Discourse will stimulate healthy conversation on relevant issues and provide valuable inputs for policy formulation of African governments,” said Dade, one of the three initiators alongside Tefera Gedamu and Michael Minassie.